April 11, 2009 |

Guthrie Continues the Orioles Winning Ways

Guthrie got off to a hot start tonight as he aggressively attacked the strike zone early in the count.He quickly got ahead of the first three hitters of the game as he retired the side in order.He was able to get all of his pitches working early as he effectively kept the Tampa Bay batters off balance by moving the ball from side to side while mixing in his fastball, slider, and change up.His control was pinpoint accurate for most of today.

Unlike much of last year, Guthrie was able to enjoy early run support today.The Orioles were able to capitalize on Nemann’s early wildness as they capped a five run first inning with Melvin Mora’s first home run of the season, a grand slam to left center field.

Taking advantage of the early run support, Guthrie was able to continue to attack the strike zone in the second as he got another 1,2,3 inning.There is nothing worse than when a pitcher is handed a big early lead, then comes out and tries to nibble around the plate resulting in multiple walks which allows the opposition to get right back in the game.Guthrie did not allow this to happen as he continued to look sharp with his mastery of the strike zone as he pitched 6 complete innings.The key to his success today was the location and movement of his pitches as he successfully kept hitters unbalanced as he navigated through tough jams in both the 3rd and the 4th innings.

In the end the Orioles bullpen finally pitched to their expectations as they worked 3 scoreless innings.Walker came in and looked good in his 1 1/3 scoreless innings.Chris Ray pitched the 9th using a sharp moving slider to strike out the side.

I can’t wait to catch the game tomorrow to see if the magic continues as the Orioles send Adam Eaton to the mound and they look to sweep the defending American League champions right out of the yard.